My Childhood Dream
When I was a kid I played with GI Joes.
Picking up where I left off in my story: I began my jouney as an adult with full intention to become an Army officer.
Growing up, the military was the family business. Dad flew helos in the gulf, his dad served, and so did my two brothers.
Yep that’s me - An ROTC cadet ready to hit the streets of Mogadishu. In reality this is Fort Riley KS, probably on a Saturday or Sunday so it wouldn’t interfere with our glamorous college lifestyle.
I was fired up for this stuff (if that’s not obvious). Like I said, playing Army in the ditch as a kid was the height of life. But this is where my path takes a major swerve.
Like many nights before it, I decided to go out and celebrate a friend’s birthday - I’m in college after all. There was one problem with this plan: I was on the hook to lead cadets in training at 5 AM the next morning.
Well I’m a grown adult at this point and I know what I’m doing - so I went and had fun. The next morning (if you can even call it that) I was in my car headed to my post. Pulled over for a minor speeding violation, the campus cop smelled my breath and rightfully took action. I made a big mistake that day and my life changed dramatically - my childhood dreams were crushed.
But life goes on. The country was entering the tail end of a 20-year war and I was on track to finish school, so I decided to take my eager youth elsewhere. It took years to recover mentally, but I learned a lot about myself during that time.
In retrospect I’ll call that a gift.
